The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-07-20
STRANGER THAN FICTION.
4 ruE sroRY oF THE LATE wAR-How
ruE LIGHT oF A IIFE VANISHED.

rRrE STORY 90 THE LATE wAR-How
ruE llGHr 90 IIFE VANISHED.
In ISIS a Young and handsome maid
"a. a resident oi Stone county, southwest
Missouri, married worthy young man
to ghom she had long been engaged.
Their union Was a happy one, and as
l,oth had been reared in the vicinity and
acre beloved and respected by all, they
received the kindesf beni-ons Of all who
knew them.
But the war was raging around them,
and their locality was alternately occu-
pied by each Of the contending armies.
4 draft WIS about To be made and the
Young husband. a month after his mar
riage. concluded 10 take advantage of the
Governments liberal offers and enlist,
rather than run the risk of being forced
inte the ranks without any emolnment
save the meager pay Of a private. 80 he
voluntarily enlisted and became private
in the Union atmy.
His courage and intelligence soon gain
ed the respect of his officers and fellow
men. and in several hard-fought battles
he distinguished himself to such an ex-
tent that his name was forwarded to the
Department headquarters at II. Louis,
and in short time it was returned EN-
blazoned in a Second Lieutenants COM
mission. The regiment was then station
ed in northern Arkansas, and at this OPP
perfume moment. when he was 80 near to
an he held dear-for Il son was born 10
him in his absence-he could not resist
the temptation to obtain Il short leave of
absence to visit his wife and child.
The boom was easily obtained, and
with his commission in his pocket he
mounted his horse and started for home.
At length the well remembered land
marks came in view.
A few hundred yards of the leafy forest
and he would be in the opening where
ne could see the smoke from the cot that
contained his treasures.
How he would surprise them
How his wife would cry for joy
How his bright-eyed babe would
Haiti" came fierce order in stentor-
ian tones from the bush that surrounded
the road. Ere he could reign in his
horse in obedience to the dread summons,
he was. as if by magic, surrounded by
twenty or thirty fierce and heavily-arm-
ed men whom his practieed eye told him
were the most unrelenting foes that the
uniform ne wore ever had. His heart
/ sank within him brave as he was, for ne
( knew there was no mercy in the breast OF
a bushwhacker for such they were.
A few questions were put to him by
/ the leader of the band, but they were
/ more for forms sake than anything else.
/ His uniform was mute answer for al
I they wished 10 know, while from hl'
pockets, which were rapidly turned in,
side out, was thecommission drawn forth
which made them more eager for hi'
/ blood
The leader of the band was man neal
his own age. and to him he appealed anc
demanded that he be treated as prison
er Of war. His request was treated viii
derision. and moment more his leg
were pinioned and a rope with moose a
It's end dangled from the limb of an al
iacent tree. Again he appealed to his In
human captors and implored them to lie
him see his wife and child but a momen
before he died. But even as he suppll
Gated the leader put the fatal loop aroun'
his neck. gave signal with his hand
and the unfortunate man was swung oil
into eternity with prayer for the wid
owed wife and orphan child upon his hips
The next day the corpse WAS discover
ed swaying in the wind by passing sol
der who, stopping at the next house
which happened TO be the home of tn
otficer-told the woman that there was
man hanging dead short distance dow
the road, and it was better perhaps h
should receive Christian burial. Thi
was not infrequent news in that locality
and. nearly all the men being IN the Al
nv. the sad work of interring the dea
and caring for the wounded depende
upon the lone women. And faithfull
was il done, too. for they knew not BIT
their own dear ones were being cared f
+, | in a similar manner far off in some Ill
, tant land.
- the woman procured help of othel
of her sex who lived in the neighborhoo
and together they proceeded on their si
5 mission AS they approached the corps
strange foreboding passed through II
mind of the woman who led them, f
there was something familiar in the 81
pended form, even in the midst of its u
natural surroundings. The blood rlshe
back t. her heart as she neared il. Su'
denly the breeze swayed it around, ar
oh. horror In us ul-torttd ltatun
she. beheld the lineaments of the faith
of her child, and she swooned away in
dead faint upon the gronnd, at the fe
of him who in life wss her all
Ten years had passed; and thous
time had healed the wounds. in h
heart. her love for him who had been Il
husband Of her youth was still faifhfi
= Her child had become youth and nee
se ed the stern, restraining hand and exp
a rienoed counsel of a father. She. too
n n weak, lone woman--was tired Of tighti
4 the battle Of life and yielded to the 50
u plication Of a man who bore q 60
: character. They were married, and th'